Over the past few years, Digital Marketing has become an increasingly important medium for creating an online brand experience. This fast-paced environment changes and develops rapidly, rendering some practices obsolete.

We did a little bit of research on the 2015 marketing trends to come. Here’s what we found.

Content Marketing to Grow

Content Marketing allows a company to establish authority and gain trust by creating relevant, unique and inspiring content on a variety of different channels. Marketers will create more and more content pertaining to their industry and will pay more attention to customer experience. For more information on content marketing, you can read Starpoint’s blog article “Why Your Business Needs a Blog” here.

More Money Will be Allocated to Online Advertising

The US population spends a total amount of 32 hours per person, per month, online. (You can check out this great Infographic on How People Spend Their Time Online). People spend time during work and their free time surfing the web, which gives marketers great targeting, segmenting, and tracking opportunities that aren’t necessarily available in offline advertising.

Online advertising is predicted to rise by 10% – globally – in 2015, with mobile advertising growing an astonishing 48%! It’s no secret why marketers will allocate more and more of their budget towards online advertising, as this trend will continue for years to come.

Video Advertising is on the Rise

We posted an article about video advertising (“Advertising on YouTube – you can find it here) a few weeks back stating its growing importance for advertisers. Use of videos for online marketing purposes has been steadily growing over the last few years, and as more and more companies are creating “explainer videos” and advertising videos, this is a trend that is most likely to continue into 2015.

More Mobile Use

Mobile-friendly content will be necessary in 2015, due to the widespread and quickly-growing use of smartphones and tablets. If you haven’t already, it is important that you create online content that’s easily accessible to mobile users – a responsive website or an alternate, mobile-friendly design is a must!

SEO and Social Media to be Even More Intertwined

Google is constantly updating its search algorithm for website indexing. Although social media does not carry the same weight as inbound links, these platforms do play an essential role in organic search rankings and are one of the three major pillars of SEO.

Google aims to provide users with the most relevant and highest-quality content possible, so it makes sense that Social Media plays a very big role in rankings: social shares and interactions with the website will help it gain in SEO.

Personalised and Relevant Content

During the last year, companies who offered personalised content saw an increase in sales, lower costs of operation, a lower bounce rate on their websites, and an increase in customer satisfaction. Personalised content is leading to the growth of 1-to-1 marketing and is expected to become widely used in 2015.

Remember, in order to stay effective, your digital marketing strategy should respond to the preferences and behaviour of your targeted audience.

Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to interact with us by commenting below.

How does Cloud Computing Work?

We’ve all heard of it – the Cloud. The term “cloud” is used as a metaphor for the internet – translating “cloud computing” to “internet-based computing”. Cloud computing relies on sharing computing resources to handle applications instead of having servers or personal devices. With the cloud, different services can be delivered to a company’s computers and devices through the internet.

Cloud computing allows a company to achieve economies of scale and better productivity. Productivity as multiple users can work on the same project or data at the same time, rather than having to wait for it to be emailed. And, time is saved as users do not need to install applications on their computer.

Different models, different names

There are typically three major cloud computing service models, known as SaaS (software as a service), PaaS (platform as a service) and IaaS (infrastructure as a service). All of these models can be offered either in a public, private, or hybrid network.

Software as a Service

SaaS can also be referred to as “on-demand software”, where users are given access to application software and databases. The cloud provider manages the infrastructure and platforms that run the applications.

Platform as a Service

In the PaaS model, the cloud provider delivers a computing platform which includes an operating system, a programming language execution environment, a database and a web server.

The application developers can then run their own software solutions on a cloud platform without having to worry about the cost and complexity of buying and managing the underlying hardware and software needed.

Infrastructure as a Service

The IaaS model of cloud computing is considered one of the most basic cloud-service models, where the provider runs the virtual machines as guests. The service provider owns the equipment and is responsible for housing, running and maintaining it.

Many business owners do not understand the importance of blogging for their company’s online presence. There are many reasons as to why setting up a blog for your company has become mandatory.

1. Blogs get you traffic to your website

Chances are you have a company website whose goal is to raise awareness on your products and to make sales. You may even have an internet marketing strategy in place with search engine marketing and search engine optimization. But why limit yourself to just a few pages which aren’t frequently updated on your website? A blog will help you build content, is great for SEO purposes and you can generate relevant traffic by focusing on specific keywords. This will yield traffic to your company website and engage the community around your brand.

2. Speaking of Communities…

We just mentioned communities. Blogs help you build these communities, with like-minded people to engage with your website and your brand. With your blog articles, you can exchange views with your readers and engage in diverse discussions with them. What’s more, engaging with these communities will help you access their circles of influence through word of mouth, giving you more chances of reaching potential customers.

3. You created a Social Media page but don’t know what to post

Chances are you have created a Facebook, Twitter, and/or Linkedin page for your company… but you don’t know what to post and have no idea how to engage with your community. If you don’t have a blog yet, you are posting content from other people or companies… which is only helpful if the content pertains to your brand and your products. It is always best to create your own, unique content as it will help you better connect with your readers since you are taking the time to write for them and to solve their problems.

4. Show your brand personality

Through your blog, you can show your company’s personality, its missions, values, share your stories, and why you’re better than the competition. Attracting your community and potential customers with your blog is the first step to creating a long-term relationship with them.

5. Become more credible

Blogging is one of the best ways to instill credibility in your field, since you have to continuously write information and do research pertaining to your field. It keeps you updated on what is going on in your sector, and allows you to give your opinion and show people that you know what you are doing and talking about.

6. Your competition already has a blog

Did you know that 71% of brands have a blog? This means your competition probably has one as well. If you’re not blogging, you’re one step behind your competition. Companies that blog generally have better marketing results – such as 55% more visitors, 97% more inbound links and 434% more indexed pages (source).

7. Build subscription lists

No one will subscribe to a mailing list of a dull corporate website. An active blog will help you build your mailing list since your visitors see value in what you are posting. You can even offer small promotions, eBooks or extra information in return for their e-mail address.

That isn’t all… the possibilities are endless with a blog, and there are many ways in which it can help your corporate website get closer to your customers and build your community.

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to interact with us by commenting below!

For those of us who are used to Facebook and LinkedIn types of social media platforms, Twitter can seem a bit confusing.

We put together a list of steps to understanding and optimising your Twitter profile.

1. Picture

Twitter puts in a default picture – of an egg. You might want to change that and replace it with a real photograph of yourself, in professional attire, and preferably smiling. Don’t forget that everything on Twitter is public – so if you’re representing a company, you may want to pick out a logo to insert as a “profile” picture instead of one of yourself.

2. Your bio

Twitter gives you the option of completing a short bio. Be precise and to-the-point… you’re on Twitter, so space is limited. Think of it as an elevator pitch where you have 30 seconds to present yourself and give a good first impression! Do the same thing, in writing.

3. Choose a simple name

You can always change the name you have chosen for your page whenever you want. Our advice is to keep it short and simple so people can remember it, and so it doesn’t take up too much space in your tweets (remember, tweets are only 140 characters long).

4. Speaking of 140 Characters…

As mentioned in step 3, tweets are 140 characters long. The main objective is to engage your followers, so you want to be as to the point as possible. Don’t forget to insert keywords that are related to the topic. You can also insert images and links that pertain to the subject you are tweeting about.

5. #hashtags

What is this “pound” key everyone is speaking of? They are called hashtags on social media – a sign that you put in before keywords that allows you to research said words. Include no more than two or three hashtags per topic. #dont #be #that #person #with #too #many #hashtags. Only put a hashtag in front of relevant keywords…

6. Start conversations

Twitter is a way of communicating through conversations. You can engage with your followers by placing an “@” sign in front of their twitter name. The person will receive a notification and will be able to respond.

7. Learn to speak Twitter

DM means “Direct Message”, and as its name suggests, it is a message that arrives directly into your Twitter inbox.

RT means “retweet”, where you transfer a pre-existing piece of information.

IRL means “In Real Life”

LT means “Live Tweet”, when you want to comment on an event you are currently participating in.

Always have quality sources of information and quality followers. You want to choose followers that are in the same business sector so that the tweets you get on your live feed are relevant. Build your network with Twitter!

Why You Should Advertise on YouTube

For many advertisers, television is the preferred media… it is where you can easily reach a high number of prospects. The advantage to television and video advertising is that messages are memorised much more easily.

However, most of us know that advertising on television is costly and can range anywhere from thousands to millions for 30 second commercials. It is a risky investment and accessible only to the biggest advertisers. This is why today many prospects can be reached through internet, and the video format of advertising is developing more and more.

Youtube is the second largest search engine (after Google).

YouTube advertising (with Trueview) is affordable for all advertisers and offers very advantageous packages. Since YouTube is a service offered by Google, you will be able to set your campaigns through Google Adwords and have all the benefits of the platform’s analytics tools.

Benefits to YouTube (video) advertising

YouTube advertising has many great benefits for your business.

Reach a global and local audience

Your video has the potential to be seen by customers around the world. However, in order to make sure the right people are watching it so that you can gain customers, make sure that your video reaches its target audience. You can target your audience through AdWords for Video. This allows you to get focused and precise access to your audience by advertising your videos to a specific audience that is more likely to watch and search for it.

Adwords for Video’s biggest advantage is that you only pay for engaged views. An engaged view occurs when a viewer watches your ad for at least 30 seconds, so you don’t pay anything if your ad is skipped.

Increase your rank in Google

Yes, video is SEO-friendly! When someone is viewing your video and they want to learn more about your business, they will be prompted to click on a link to your business website in the video’s description.

Create a community

If your business has a following community, you can use YouTube to share and engage with your customers. You can share product launches, footage, video blogs, customer testimonials…

Demonstrate your products and expertise

With YouTube advertising, you can show your products in action. This is extremely beneficial to companies who mostly sell on the internet or who have limited physical distribution centers.

Put a face on your business and products

Giving your clients a face to associate with your business and products instills trust. You can show them you’re a great person, that you know what you’re talking about and that you can help them with your product or service.

A way to sell 24/7

By making a video, you’re creating a virtual sales person. You only need to make the video once, load it, and let your video sales person do the work for you, around the clock. And there’s no limit to how many videos you can make!

Why You Should Monitor Your Company’s Online Reputation

Just as you monitor your personal online reputation, you should also keep a close eye on your company’s online reputation. With web 2.0, no company is out of harm’s way when it comes to negative comments, articles, or reviews. We see this example very often with restaurants, hotels, telecommunications companies, most of which have an online reputation monitoring system in place.

The Facts

Let’s consider the facts first. Did you know that only 12% of businesses have had an online monitoring system in place for more than five years, and almost 15% of these systems have been in place for less than a year?

Telecoms, Communications/Publicity and Services are three sectors that are most inclined to build their online reputation… as interaction with these companies is huge on social media.

How monitoring systems work

Despite growing risks, online reputation management is not widespread just yet. These reputation-saving systems work in two ways, hand in hand. An instantaneous alert is sent out from social networks (immediate, real-time information). As this is happening, the the visibility of the page is monitored.

Why you should build your company’s online reputation monitoring system

Know everything that is being said

You need to know what is being said about your company and your products. This will allow you to gain a better understanding of what your customers and prospects think about your products and your company. You can then create a follow-up strategy, should it be for your Facebook page or on search engines.

Know your competition and what they are doing

Creating an online reputation monitoring system will allow you to follow your competition and keep yourself updated on what they are doing, and what is going on in terms of new trends and opinions. This way you can learn about your competitors and then address any shortcomings in their offers, thus gaining a competitive advantage.

Bad Buzz… anticipate it!

There is good and bad buzz… Bad buzz can be extremely harmful to your company if not handled correctly. Keep in mind that bad buzz spreads faster than good buzz as unhappy and angry customers are anxious to share their experience with other customers. Your product lovers might rush to defend your brand if it is being attacked… bad buzz can help accelerate good buzz, but only if you manage it right and don’t let it spiral out of control.

You can check out forums on Apple products… a great way to understand the point!

Identify your influencers and interact with them

Influencers and leaders of opinion play a huge role in a company’s online presence. It is your job to create relationships with them through their blogs and on their social media pages (leaving comments, opinions, reading on forums…). Once you’ve opened a relationship with them, you can keep them informed of any latest news on your products and company. Your influencers then become messengers for your company.

Digital influence on retail purchases

Did you know that digital influences 36% of retail purchases? Well, studies reveal that 71% of consumers do in-store research of the product they are looking at to find better deals online.

Many of you might be asking yourselves: so will this digital era be the death of retailers? Well… not if retailers use it to their advantage. Digital can come into play to complete, enrich and develop the retail point of sale through connected stores, wi-fi, tablets, web-to-store…

Interactive Experiences

Let’s talk a little about “connected stores”.

Brands ARE aware of consumers’ new behaviour and this can be seen through connected stores. The best example is, you guessed it: Best Buy.

In 2012, Best Buy was in overall revenue decline and decided to change its strategy by adopting a “Connected Store” format. Best Buy implemented a “store-within-a-store” concept for Pacific Kitchen & Bath and Magnolia Design Center and gave the Geek Squad a centralised service desk.

For those of you more into fashion than electronics, Karl Lagerfeld opened his first stores last year in Paris. They are digitally connected with tablets in the fitting room, providing an interactive experience to their customers.

JCPenney’s “Findmore”

Still in fashion… let’s take a look at what JCPenney started in 2011. They brought the “Findmore(r)” smart fixture to over 120 stores across the country. This smart fixture bridges the gap between in-store and online shopping by providing an interactive digital experience to customers. With this fixture, customers have access to greater merchandise selections by offering access to online purchases in stores. See something you like, try it on, too small? It’s okay, you can order it online, in stores!

Ever wondered how mobile marketing actually works? Where do you begin and how do you implement the best mobile marketing strategy for your business?

What is mobile marketing?

Mobile Marketing allows a business to communicate with consumers via mobile devices. This goes through either sending simple text messages, participation-based campaigns, or allowing the consumer to visit a mobile website.

Mobile Marketing tools include:

SMS (Short Message Services), also known as text messages,

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)

USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data)

Bluetooth Marketing

Mobile Internet and Social Media

Mobile Applications

Mobile Display Ads

Mobile Paid Search

Location-Based Advertising

Mobile marketing helps your business consolidate different communication channels in one simple, effective medium. Mobile marketing is, in fact, a streamlined version of traditional marketing that is cheaper than traditional marketing means – for both the consumer and the marketer. The advantage is that it is easy enough for any age group to understand and engage with, and with 163.9 million smartphone users in the US in 2014, it is in reality an essential step in any businesses marketing strategy.

Common Mobile Marketing Myths

There are many mobile marketing myths that need to be cleared up:

1. Everyone Has an iPhone: False

Only about 35% of the population owns any kind of smartphone. That is still a huge figure in the scope of things, but no, not everyone has an iPhone. On top of that, Android has a 41% share of smartphone users who have purchased a phone in the past 6 months. And that is 27% for Apple and 19% for Blackberry.

2. All you need is an App: False

A smartphone App is only one part of an effective mobile marketing strategy. Use as many mobile marketing tools as you can (SMS, QR codes, mobile-optimised website…). The consumer must have multiple opportunities to interact with your brand in order to build loyalty and yield success in your mobile marketing strategy.

3. Mobile users are all the same: False

Don’t miss out on reaching certain people because you think they’re behind the times. More than half of mobile technology users are ages 35 and older – it’s not just about Millennials or Generation Y.

A desktop website isn’t that easy to read and use through a mobile device. A consumer who can’t easily navigate your website on their mobile device most likely won’t come back again. You website must be optimised for mobile, or be “responsive”.

5. More content is better than little content: False

Too much content on mobile has a tendency to discourage users. Good content focuses on helping the consumer decide on their own to explore your business at a greater length. It’s not all about the quantity, but the quality.

Check back soon for more upcoming articles on mobile marketing and how to set up your strategy!

How successful is your e-mail campaign?

Congratulations! You just sent out your first newsletter today, and you would like to know how efficient it was. The following are a few indicators that will allow you to measure your e-mail marketing campaign’s performances.

It is essential for any marketing professional to justify advertising impacts: you know what you’re spending, but you want to know what it’s getting you in return.

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By measuring e-mailing marketing performance, you can answer these three questions:

– is my content relevant?

– how does my e-mailing list react to my e-mails?

– are results there?

There are several key indicators that allow you to measure your campaign’s performances. These include, but are not limited to, quality indicators (such as deliverability rates, opening rates, click-through rates), and profitability (conversion rate and unsubscribe rate).

Let’s take a closer look at these indicators.

Deliverability Rate

A deliverability rate is the percentage of emails that you have sent and that have been received by the recipient. A campaign’s deliverability rate, contrary to popular belief, is not something that is always guaranteed. You have to face different rules established by Internet Service Providers and e-mail services. In fact, many Internet Service Provides pay particular attention to your list’s health and quality. We recommend that you always use opt-in lists – this is an e-mail address that an advertiser allows the use of – or even double opt-in in order to be sure you won’t be blacklisted.

Opening Rate

The opening rate is the number of e-mails opened, over 100 e-mails sent. In general, the opening rate in a B to C environment is around 25%. However, this depends on two key elements: the object of the e-mail, which must capture the interest of your recipient, and the name of the sender, which must inspire trust.

Click-through-rate

Click-through-rate will indicate the number of subscribers who have clicked on your links and ended up on your website or landing page. Click-through rate will actually indicate the extent to which your recipients have demonstrated an interest in your content – and will tell you if they can or cannot be transformed into potential clients.

Conversion Rate

Your conversion rate is the number of people that have subscribed to your website or that have bought one of your products after an e-mail campaign was sent out. You got it – conversion rate is a key indicator to your campaign’s performance since it is linked to your ROI. The average conversion rate is around 4% on average, but it depends on the quality and relevance of your e-mail, as well as that of your website. If your e-mail is attractive but your website doesn’t inspire trust, it will be difficult to get those users to convert!

Unsubscribe Rate

Following the unsubscribe rate will allow you to understand how your recipients perceive your e-mails. If your unsubscribe rate is over 2%, then it is probably time to rethink your campaigns.

Always remember – attractive and captivating content and a trustworthy site are a must!